


Moonstruck

by sormik



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Twins, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-03-18 08:16:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13677816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sormik/pseuds/sormik
Summary: Ren gets a crush on a cute boy and vehemently denies he has any chances with him for a very long time...A rewrite of Mishima's involvement with the Phantom Thieves and his confidant with Ren.





	1. Rank 1

**Author's Note:**

> i wasn't sure if i should tag it but for this fic i'm going with tatsujun parents au, so that's why the surname used here is "Suou"
> 
> if you're not aware of what that is, basically tatsuya and jun from persona 2 are the parents of the p5 protag. on top of that i love an au where ren and akira are twins so have that too. trust me i'm in pretty deep
> 
> akira/ryuji/yusuke and annshiho will probably be mentioned now and then, but they're left untagged since mishiren is the only one really focused on

_—_

_God, I swear I was falling asleep during that literature lesson. I'll have to try asking Akira for his notes later._

Ren checked his bag to make sure he'd grabbed the right notebooks for homework that afternoon. Ann had bid him a quick goodbye earlier before going to one of her modelling jobs, and homeroom was almost vacant except for a few other students hanging around. He was waiting for a text from his brother, who happened to have "Morgana Duty" that day. He slipped his bag onto his shoulder, ready to leave the classroom anyways.

"Hey, Suou, can I talk to you for a sec?"

He turned to see Mishima looking rather eager to talk to him. Somehow he hadn't noticed anyone walk up to him in the first place, but he brushed off his confusion to momentarily appreciate the life that was back in his classmate's eyes recently.

"Sure."

Mishima's face lit up with his response, and Ren ignored the sudden phone vibration from his pocket.

"So, I'll cut to the chase. Have you seen the Phantom Aficionado Website? It's called 'Phan-site' for short, and, well...I made it!"

Ren blinked. "...You're telling this to me because...?"

His callousness caused Mishima's confidence to falter, but it didn't seem to deter him. He cautiously looked around the classroom to see if anyone was watching them. The action made Ren a bit apprehensive, and his feeling was answered by the sudden invasion of his personal space and a single question.

"You're a Phantom Thief, aren't you?"

He needed a second to process Mishima's words, and it took him another to think _I can really see his eyelashes, huh_. Ren panicked.

"Too close."

Mishima quickly took a small step back. "S-sorry. Anyway, if I'm right, which I really think I am, don't worry! I can keep a secret." He nervously looked away from Ren's gaze before he continued, "It's the least I can do to apologize to you over...Kamoshida. He hurt so many students, so you guys helped a lot of people, including me."

The sincerity in his tone left Ren a bit speechless. Either Mishima was more perceptive than he'd thought or he was just a really good guesser. Regardless, Ren had to be cautious with him. It was interesting that he'd confronted him at all. What would he have to gain from sharing that suspicion if he didn't even have proof? Ren realized that was pretty cynical of him to think considering how honest his apology seemed and pushed the thought away. There was still something about what Mishima said that made him itch though.

"...Yeah he did, but why are you apologizing over him? You weren't responsible for that."

"I mean, yeah...but I have to take responsibility for what I  _did_  do. It wasn't right for me to put you and your brother's personal stuff out there, and I caused a bunch of trouble for you even after that." A flash of determination let him look Ren in the eyes when he spoke. "So I'm going to help you guys! I just know that if people get the word out there, the Phantom Thieves can do more good in the world. There's no way they'd just end things here..."

Mishima was quiet, and Ren didn't want to ruin his moment by being...himself, so he took a minute to think of how to respond. He barely knew him, besides what he learned about the volleyball team's struggles during the Kamoshida incident. And, really, he had no obligation to accept Mishima's help, but the resolve he was showing to him was intriguing. Ren absentmindedly twirled a lock of his hair before breaking the silence.

"You could be right."

That confirmation was enough, he hoped. As soon as the words left his mouth, Mishima smiled brightly at him, giving Ren the urge to pat him on the back...or something. Instead, he looked elsewhere to avoid his classmate's starry eyes and noticed Akira peeking into the classroom via window. He caught his brother's curious look and nodded to let him know he was fine.

"Awesome! And just so you know, the site functions as a forum, so people can voice their problems. That way, people who have nowhere left to go can still get their voice heard if something's bad enough to let the Phantom Thieves jump in. I even started an anonymous poll, take a look!" Mishima pulled out his smartphone, with the poll page already loaded onto it. He held it close enough to where Ren could see it.

"'Do you believe in the phantom thieves, or not'..." The percentage was extremely low; he didn't know whether to feel relieved or sad about it.

"Sort of to the point, but important to ask anyways!" With an embarrassed smile on his face, Mishima still looked proud of his work despite the current poll's results. "Oh...! We should exchange contact info, actually. If that's alright with you, I mean. I want to be able to tell you about what else I had planned."

It was do or die time he supposed. Ren guessed Mishima really wanted to impress him, which he really didn't understand. Then again, intel would be pretty helpful. Hmm...alright.

"Yeah, fine with me. Hand me your phone and I'll put in my info."

Mishima did as requested, and soon Ren gave the phone back with a hasty 'bye' before leaving to meet with his brother, who had been patiently waiting for him outside class. He already knew a question was on Akira's mind.

"Since you were taking awhile I wanted to make sure you were okay... So Yuuki Mishima confronted you after class?"

"Yeah, he did. Apparently he knows who we are, but said he won't tell anyone. There's more I'll tell you when we're back at Leblanc."

"Oh, and here I thought he was confessing to you. Had it been anyone else, you would've used my text as an excuse to run off." He could tell Akira was trying not to grin at him. "Don't pout, you know I'm right."

"Very funny, and I'm not pouting. Don't you have a blond boyfriend to run off with or something?"

Akira adjusted his glasses nonchalantly, "So mean. Ryuji had to pick up something for his mom, so I couldn't meet with him even if I wasn't already planning to walk back with you."

"That's fair... Did Morgana fall asleep or something?"

The familiar black and white patterned face peeked from Akira's bag. "No, I'm totally alert! I just stopped paying attention when you talked about...feelings. Anyways, get back to Leblanc already. We really need to talk about what your classmate told you."

Ren played with his hair again.

_I just know that if people get the word out there, the Phantom Thieves can do more good in the world._

"I don't think we need to worry too much, but yeah, I'll fill you in later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my first published work ever, so hopefully this is a good start!!
> 
> i really want to do a better take on mishima's confidant/plot involvement so that's the inspiration here along with the fact i am absolutely invested in mishiren as a ship thanks to rp shenanigans
> 
> hopefully this is good, i might come back in to edit it but anyways i plan to put some good time into this
> 
> posting on valentine's day... Romance


	2. Rank 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> really sorry for the long wait time, i had to take a long ass break to sort out things irl
> 
> please enjoy this update!
> 
> oh yeah, and atlus robbed us by not letting mishima nerd out on his interests. so i'm here to fix that

—

"Are you sure about meeting up with him on your own?" Even if his face was partially obscured by clunky glasses frames, Akira's concern read through easily to his brother. He wasn't extremely bothered by it, considering it was always with good intentions, but it often made Ren wish he wasn't the younger twin. He could take care of himself for an evening, and he'd done so before; going to a dine-in with Mishima to talk about Phantom Thieves business would be a piece of cake.

"Don't worry. Just take care of whatever errands you had planned, and I'll call you when we're done."

"Do you think Morgana should go with-"

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I'll pass on babysitting him." Ren could hear a 'hey!' from inside Akira's bag. His brother sighed and gave him a small smile.

"Alright, see you later then." After receiving a silent nod in response, Akira left with Morgana in tow, and Ren walked through the night crowds of Shibuya. The quiet buzz of the city contrasted the light sounds of crickets and wind chimes that he was used to back in his hometown. Even if he and Akira called their dads every so often to keep in touch, he supposed it was hard not to miss the comfort of gardening and family dinners. Whatever, getting homesick wasn't what he'd wanted to do tonight, and there was business to take care of. His phone suddenly vibrated from a text, bringing him fully out of his thoughts.

>(Mishima) I'm outside the meeting place, so just look for me when you're nearby!

Ren looked up from his phone, only to spot the sender himself standing outside of a restaurant and made his way over.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Yuuki covered his mouth as he yawned. Motivated to keep himself awake, he looked into the crowd every now and then to see if Suou was close, but with no luck he’d gone back to looking at his phone screen.

_I’ll send something…just to make sure._

>I'm outside the meeting place, so just look for me when you're nearby!

_Not pushy or demanding, perfect._

He went back to his mobile browser and opened up his proudly nicknamed “Phan-site” to check if there had been any new comments or changes in the poll’s percentage. There was nothing new except for another person accusing him of being a troll, but he ignored it. They’d eat their words when the Phantom Thieves prove their existence! Not that they had to prove themselves to him. Yuuki had found heroes to believe in, and now it was his job to get more people to believe in them too.

“...ishima... Earth to Mishima…?” Caught off guard, Yuuki startled, feeling relief when he still felt his phone in his hands. He internally berated himself for reacting like that and mentally braced himself to hear laughter, but there was none.

“S-Suou! Did you get my message?”

“Yeah. I was close by so I didn’t send a reply… You okay?”

“I’m fine! Just got surprised. Want to head inside?” Yuuki scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He glanced at Suou's face to see a small smile as he gestured towards the entrance to the restaurant.

“After you."

Yuuki led Suou inside the restaurant, and the two of them agreed to get a booth that didn't have a lot of people nearby. They sat down opposite of each other, mildly avoiding small talk by checking their phones now and then until they got their drinks. It surprisingly didn't feel very awkward. To Yuuki, it almost felt like they were really about to conduct a secret business meeting. Or maybe his enthusiasm was just getting the best of him again. Regardless, he decided it was a good time to break the silence.

"So-," a yawn quickly interrupted him, "how are things going with the top-secret activities?" Yuuki noted that Suou had placed his hands together neatly on the table. He tried to avoid staring absentmindedly; that'd probably be considered rude.

"It's...going, I guess." Suou shrugged a bit noncommittally. "How's the Phan-site coming along?"

Despite getting increasingly tired, Yuuki brightened a bit. He yawned again before being able to respond, "I think it's going great! Obviously, it's a little hard to deal with jerks that keep commenting dumb stuff, but all we need to do is work on your publicity, right? It's almost like I'm your PR Manager or something, haha." He took a sip of his tea before continuing, "Um, the real reason I asked us to meet up is because I thought I'd need a bit more time to explain my idea to get the Phantom Thieves more recognition. You can think of it like a renown system in certain video games. And don't worry, I am definitely taking this seriously!"

"I believe you." Suou gave a small encouraging smile, and Yuuki temporarily forgot what he meant to say.

"Oh, thanks! So, uh, renown is like, how well known a protagonist or group is in a game. The reason I bring that up is because bigger enemies or actions give more renown, and smaller ones give less. If we apply that to possible targets you guys can go after, that means the big ones get you more renown and popularity. Unlike a game though, the P-Thieves can't find big targets super easy, and that's why I wanted to use the forum to find you smaller targets in the meantime!" He looked expectantly at his companion.

"You've put a lot of thought into this... It sounds like it's got potential, but how do you expect Phantom Thieves to find smaller targets?"

Yuuki narrowly avoided pumping his fist triumphantly. "That's where my intel comes in! Basically, I'll open up the forum to requests, and people can comment with problems they're having with others. Once I have enough information to see if it's worth fixing, and I run it by you, then you guys take care of it, and then I report back to you when it looks like the problem's been taken care of. It's not newsworthy publicity, but if one more person believes in the P-Thieves, then that's one more person to spread the word!"

One of Suou's hands went to his chin in thought. "I'm sure the the Phantom Thieves will be willing to try it out. It's not hard to imagine that there are a good number of potential targets in a big city."

"Ye-," another yawn cut him off, "...Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?"

Yuuki just shrugged. "It's probably not fun watching me yawn every five seconds."

"You know, you don't have to lose sleep to protect the thieves' reputation."

"...Was it that obvious?"

"Mhm. And don't say 'sorry' again, alright?"

He sighed, "Okay. I'll try not to lose sleep again, but I just lost track of time, I swear! Now that there's no more volleyball practice I can spend a bunch of time getting better at coding. The Phan-site is totally made from scratch!"

Another smile. Yuuki couldn't meet Suou's eyes. Did he find Yuuki amusing or something? No, that didn't make sense considering how well their conversation was going.

"That's impressive. Just take care of yourself, Mishima."

"Right..." Yuuki's face felt warm from the praise. "I guess since we kind of have a plan now we can go home?"

Suou nodded. "Sounds good. Oh, and don't worry about paying for your drink. I'll cover it."

"Wh... Are you sure? I brought my own money."

"Yep. You should head home, I have to meet up with my brother before heading out."

"If you say so... Thanks, Suou. I'll see you in class tomorrow." The last thing he saw before walking out into the streets again was Suou tapping away at his phone.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

>Meetings over. Where do you want to meet

>(Aki) I could've sworn I asked you to call me.

>I knew you'd be checking your phone the whole time, so it doesn't really matter

>(Aki) Don't call me out like this. I'll meet you where we split up earlier.

>Got it. See you soon

>(Aki) :)

Ren shook his head at Akira's cheesiness.

He was...surprised at how that conversation with Mishima went. He'd expected some kind of unrealistic expectation due to his fanboy-like enthusiasm, but he was willing to give his proposal a try. Honestly, the thought of the Phantom Thieves getting popular was kind of a weird concept to him, but if they didn't want backlash in the future, maybe it was for the best? Ren sighed. Talking to Mishima was risky. The twins had agreed to keep information about the Metaverse and Personae out of any conversation that wasn't Phantom Thieves only, but it felt almost selfish to keep that from someone who seemed to place a lot of trust in him.

_You're overthinking it, Ren._

Keeping it among themselves was the safest option. He knew that, so he could keep down the guilt for just a little longer. In fact, it was probably more worrisome that he hadn't faked a single smile that entire time. Well, as long as Mishima wanted to help them, he wouldn't complain about his personal reputation being at stake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how was the pov change? i hope it's decent, but feel free to leave feedback


End file.
